Interpersonal Negotiation Skills: Convincing Others Without the Benefit of Authority

Major focus:

1. Understand how personality styles effect communication and understanding

2. Prepare for responses that demonstrate logic and emotions

3. Use refocusing techniques to maintain mutual purpose and mutual respect

4. Understand and leverage emotional responses

5. How to confront others when they don't do as expected and not get a defensive response

Delivery methods:

• Instructor led on-line training
• One-on-one coaching
• National / annual associate meeting topics with break out sessions
• Classroom instruction emphasizing technique practice with role-plays and case studies

At the conclusion of this interpersonal negotiation skills workshop participants will be able to:

• Describe the negotiating process in successful Win-Win agreements
• Be politically savvy in building coalitions and support for ideas
• Use refocusing techniques to "think on your feet"
• Use logic and emotions to gain agreement
• Describe sources of power and how to maximize it
• Use business acumen fundamentals to support the change initiative
• Bracket the negotiating range and identify tradeoffs that are important to others and of little consequence to you
• Maintain a good relationship

Does you experience these challenges?

• As a team leader you have important work to do; you need results and the freedom to do the job but must use negotiating skills rather than give orders to peers or colleagues whose cooperation is needed.

• The Unit VP has asked you to direct a project team of contractors that all seem to have their own agendas.

• The customer's project managers and engineers assigned to your sourcing program seem to want to make it as difficult as possible; with little cooperation and constant changing of priorities.

• As a marketing representative you must use negotiating skills, rather than direct, people in the retail stores to implement the new program.

In today's business environment you need to quickly persuade others to agree on a course of action that gets results. An effective results oriented consensus builder knows that differences must be resolved fast and close to the action. And in many cases the internal struggle is more difficult than differences with customers because we feel that internal colleagues have the same goals and objectives as we do yet don't always readily understand and apply our suggestions. Therefore the ability to use effective interpersonal negotiating skills with others is key to meeting the organization's objectives.

Interpersonal Negotiation Skills
Being able to persuade and influence becomes a test of skill - skill in interpersonal negotiation. Going hat in hand, begging or throwing yourself at a colleague's mercy with a request is not a powerful or very effective option. On the other hand, making demands and bullying your way can be costly as well.

Teamwork is the key to accomplishing goals and individuals must use a variety of skills to manage and resolve the differences that routinely occur in the workplace.

Our approach is designed to allow participants to practice interpersonal negotiation skills to achieve win / win outcomes in "real time" situations by using the skills of: receiving and giving feedback, effective interpersonal communication, value propositions, influencing without authority, persuading and influencing (selling) and using the theory of exchange in negotiation.

Negotiating Skills Application

• Working in a support capacity
• Advising or consulting with franchisees
• Where long term relationships are important
• Interdepartmental agreement
• Matrix organization project commitment